1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems, and in particular, to computer systems for creating simulations of interpersonal relationships and interactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer simulations ("simulations") are powerful tools for modeling different processes and situations. Simulations can model situations and anticipate events that are likely to occur in a process. Simulations can also realistically model personal interactions in a variety of different situations. For these reasons, computer simulations are useful tools for teaching individuals the appropriate behavior for new situations they are likely to encounter. By way of example, an interactive computer simulation can be very useful in preparing a person for the interpersonal contact that will be encountered when traveling in a foreign country, such as proceeding through customs and arranging for transportation and hotel accommodations.
There are a variety of computer simulation systems that currently exist in the art. Currently, computer simulation systems include, among other things, the interaction of language synthesizers, language models, inference engines, large data bases, language and speech recognition systems, and video and audio output. All these devices and systems, and many others, must be specifically designed, connected, and managed by highly skilled programmers and technicians in order to create and maintain a simulation.
In order to create new simulations for existing computer simulation systems, the creator/author must typically be very knowledgeable about computer organization, programming, and operation generally, as well as the specific language and operation of the particular simulation system. Therefore, the persons able to create simulations are severely restricted to a highly technical group of users that may have little or no knowledge of the human interactions or situations that are being simulated. Thus, there is a need for an interpersonal computer simulation system in which it is simple for users to create simulations.
Yet another problem with existing interpersonal computer simulation systems is that acceptable grammars for input and output can quickly become very complicated and difficult for even highly skilled programmers to update and correct. Therefore, there is a need for a system of displaying grammars to the user that is easy to understand and to modify.
A further problem with prior art simulation systems is that they do not allow the person creating the simulations to switch between a mode in which the simulation is being written, and a mode in which the simulation is being run. This makes the process of creating and testing new simulations very time consuming and difficult. Therefore, there is a need for a computer simulation system that readily allows the user to create simulations, even partially, and then test the created simulations by executing them.
A final problem with interpersonal computer simulations is that they do not provide a mechanism for creating and adding corrective advice, pointers, or hints into the simulation. Since the simulations are interactive, it is often useful to provide the user/operator with hints or suggestions on the proper response when a response or input in a simulation indicates that the user is having difficulty proceeding through the simulation as intended by the author of the simulation. In most prior art systems, any such corrective hints or advice must be programmed directly into the simulation. Such direct programming can be very time consuming and only performed by those familiar with the system. Moreover, it is even more difficult to modify the hints or suggestions when they are presented after their initial creation. Thus, there is a need for a system that allows the author to concurrently create the simulation as well as any corrective advice or hints that may be desired.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and methods in which simulations are easier to create and that provide much more flexibility during simulation creation.